With a generous gift from the Lennox Foundation, the Lennox Foundation Endowment for Preservation Education, Training and Outreach was established to fund graduate level internships in library and archives preservation administration and conservation, and to support the educational outreach activities of the Iowa State University (ISU) preservation staff. The internship is offered by the ISU Library Preservation Department to provide graduate students with practical experience and exposure to preservation in an academic library environment.

This internship is intended to give current graduate students and recent graduates of preservation and conservation programs the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge of care and treatment of library and archives materials in an academic library. Interns will work in the ISU Library Preservation Department with guidance from the Head of Preservation and the Library Conservator.

Interns will learn about the overall functioning and organization of the Preservation Department:

Workflow of materials through the various units and tracking of materials

Condition assessment and treatment decision-making

General collections book repair and re-housing

Inter- and intra-departmental workflow and collaboration

Operations in reformatting, bindery preparation, and other vended services

In addition to learning about general operations of the department, interns will undertake and complete a project selected based on their interests and skills, and the needs and capabilities of the Department. Projects may include, but are not limited to, aspects of:

Condition survey and assessment of a particular collection

Repair of circulating collections

Re-housing collection materials

Condition survey of photograph collections with recommendation of appropriate actions

Conservation treatment (conservator students will have the opportunity to propose treatment options for Special Collections materials, perform agreed upon treatments, and document condition and treatment)

Issues in digital collections and digital preservation

Survey of audiovisual materials

Development of metadata and digital program best practices and workflows

Development of preservation education, training and outreach resources

Disaster planning and response

Eligibility and Requirements:

Applicants must currently be graduate students, in good standing, in a program of library and archives preservation administration or conservation; or a recent graduate of such a program;

Applicants must have completed at least four preservation or conservation courses before the anticipated start date of this internship;

Applicants must commit to full-time employment as interns for the duration of the internship;

Internship must be completed within the calendar year;

At the end of the internship, the intern will be required to submit a final report or project;

Applicants must have student or working visas if not U.S. citizens.

The duration of the Lennox Foundation Internship is from 3 to 6 months. The intern will be provided with a minimum stipend of $3,200 and a furnished university apartment.

To apply for the Lennox Foundation Preservation and Conservation Internship please submit the following items:

Cover letter

Current resume

Contact information for two professional references (include address, phone number and e-mail address)

Statement of interest (include projects of interest)

Graduate program description including requirements and course descriptions. Please include an unofficial transcript indicating the courses you have completed.

Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3680 Beardshear Hall, 515 294-7612.

Former Lennox Foundation Interns

2006 Carie McGinnis from the University of Texas at Austin Kilgarlin Center, currently the preservation librarian and registrar at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

2007 Ilse Entlesberger from the University of Fine Arts in Vienna, currently the book conservator for the Regional Library of Upper Austria.

2008 Kathleen Fear from the University of Michigan School of Information, currently a Senior Business Intelligence Analyst at the University of Rochester Medical Center

2009 Bexx Caswell from North Bennett Street School and Simmons College School of Library & Information Science, currently the book conservator at the Michigan State University Library.

2010 Kristi Westberg from West Dean College, UK, currently a book conservator at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA.

2010 Henry Hebert from North Bennett Street School of bookbinding and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Library & Information Science, currently a book conservator at Duke University Library.

2011 Lauren Calcote from Buffalo State College Art Conservation Program, currently a book conservator at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

2013 Sue Donnovan from the Sorbonne Conservation of Cultural Heritage Program, currently a book conservator at the University of Virginia Library.

2014 Gloria Diez from the Selznick School of Film Preservation at George Eastman House, currently working for the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires as a film producer at ACERCARTE.

2014 Nicole Monjeau from the Camberwell College of Arts Paper Conservation Program, currently a paper and photographs conservator in private practice in Minneapolis.